Wasted Years, Wasted Lives
More than 80 years ago, the British learned a lesson that our so-called leaders today can't seem to get through their thick skulls: you can't democratize Arab society because you're not addressing the root of the problem, which is Islam. As this BBC article points out, the West are pounding our collective heads into the same wall over and over again, and then are amazed we're still getting headaches from it.
We will leave the government of Iraq in the hands of a laughably eclectic group of misfits -- including a large number of Muslim clerics -- and soon afterward the entire country will either be overrun by a hungry neighbor, fly apart in civil war, or just revert straight to an oppressive quasi-theocracy, which has been the normal method of mis-government among Arab nations for over a millennium.
Meanwhile, we’re left with thousands of dead soldiers and Marines – the life of any one of whom was worth more than the entire stinking shithole to begin with – not to mention the pointless waste of trillions of taxpayer dollars.
Great job, George. Between pandering to the U.N., (which we own lock, stock and barrel), playing pointless compromise politics, (with the most friendly Congress any Republican President has ever seen), and trying to please a press which would sooner see you lying dead in a gutter than sitting in the Oval Office, you've managed to accomplish even less than LBJ did in Vietnam. There's a ringing endorsement for you. Oh, and let us not forget that you so alienated the moderate swing voters, we're now faced with the appalling situation of a career Chicago politi-thug headed for the White House. Thank God for two-term limits; please go away now.
Where the hell is a Caesar when you need one?
___
(Hat-tip to Vizigoth)
We will leave the government of Iraq in the hands of a laughably eclectic group of misfits -- including a large number of Muslim clerics -- and soon afterward the entire country will either be overrun by a hungry neighbor, fly apart in civil war, or just revert straight to an oppressive quasi-theocracy, which has been the normal method of mis-government among Arab nations for over a millennium.
Meanwhile, we’re left with thousands of dead soldiers and Marines – the life of any one of whom was worth more than the entire stinking shithole to begin with – not to mention the pointless waste of trillions of taxpayer dollars.
Great job, George. Between pandering to the U.N., (which we own lock, stock and barrel), playing pointless compromise politics, (with the most friendly Congress any Republican President has ever seen), and trying to please a press which would sooner see you lying dead in a gutter than sitting in the Oval Office, you've managed to accomplish even less than LBJ did in Vietnam. There's a ringing endorsement for you. Oh, and let us not forget that you so alienated the moderate swing voters, we're now faced with the appalling situation of a career Chicago politi-thug headed for the White House. Thank God for two-term limits; please go away now.
Where the hell is a Caesar when you need one?
___
(Hat-tip to Vizigoth)
posted by Jar(egg)head at 14:48
2 Comments:
I know many people are not happy with the way GB ran things for the past few years, but I think the fact that there has not been another terrorist attack on our soil speaks volumes. Has he done everything right? No, but no president ever has. I think the failure really lies with our philosophy of dealing with our enemies. We deal with these openly hostile countries as if they are our equals. This is not a position of strength and these tin pot despots see it that way. We go to these clowns with hat in hand and say " Kind sir, could you please be nice? we will give you money, you don't have to do anything for it, but it would be nice if you could stop being bad. you won't? well here is the money anyway, and if you would just...oh sorry, yes we will leave. Just think about it ok? Please?"
For being called a superpower, we don't act like one. I am tired of being apologetic to the rest of the world for protecting our people and interests.
You're right, Davis. And a strong President can go a long way toward changing that perception -- just ask Qaddafi about crossing Ronnie Reagan. Unfortunately, we have not had a strong President since Reagan. Our situation has become disturbingly similar to Rome circa first century B.C. The Republic is mired in corruption, graft, and political self-interest, a hollow shell of government incapable of effective and decisive action to further its outside interest. Hence my call for a Caesar.
I am aware of the pitfalls of empire, but I feel that much like the Republic of Rome, we have passed the point where the system can be fixed from within. Those abusing the system have no vested interest in repairing it to its former state of effectiveness.
Our choices for representatives are carefully structured and selected by the parties, with what has become almost overt aid from the supposedly "fourth estate" press. True conservatives are run out of the races early, and we are left with a choice of blue-bloods who have effectively created a quasi-hereditary oligarchy. In other words, Rome 55 BC.
The man on the white horse certainly isn't the best choice for the American republic, but empire may be our only choice if we are to survive as a society. Whatever his other goals, few of which were selfless, I've come to think that Julius Caesar truly believed that of Rome, as well.
I don't crave empire. But neither do I want to live in a society that gradually degenerates into a weak socialist nightmare, without the will to defend its own interests. Given a choice between following modern Europe or following ancient Rome, I'll choose Rome every time.
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